Vending-machine.



H. BOERNER. VENDING MACHVINE. APPLlcATloN man sum/19. 1913.

Rm 11 0d 1 11 m To d Lw D e Lb uw DI 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

H. BOEBNER. VENDING MACHINE. APPLICATION FILED .IULY19, 1913.

Patented June 1 1915. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

IUI

IfuIIIInI I/II IIIII In I H. BOERNER. VENDING MACHINE. APPLlcAloN FILED 1uLY19.1913.

Patented June 1, 1915. i

y SHEETS-SHEET 3.

in 1.111.h

HERMANN IBOERNER, 0F, ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TOW. D.

MAHANEY, 0F ST.

LOUIS, MISSOURI.

VENDINGr-MACHINE.'

maniac.'

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 19, 1913. i Serial No. 780,051.

T0 all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERMANN Boi'iRNER, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of St. Louis, State of Missouri, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Vending-Machines, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view ta-ken through the center of a vending machine of m improved construction and. looking toward the right hand side thereof. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through the center of the machine andflooking toward the left hand side thereof. Fig. 3 is a transverse section taken approximately on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. f1 is a detail elevational view, partly in section, of the com pocket or receptacle which initially receives the coin placed in the machine. Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional viewv of one ofthe paper gripping devices made use of 1n my improved machine. Fig. tion taken approximately on the line 6--6 of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is an enlarged detail sectional view taken approximately on -thexline 7--7 of Fig. 2.

My invention relates generally tonewand useful improvements in vending machines, and more particularly Ito a machine designed and utilized for vending'short-term accident insurance policies.

There are at present a number of accident insurance companies` which make a specialty -of issuing accident insurance policies to travelers, and which policies are good for a limited period of time; for instance, one, two or three days, and at present these policies are usually sold by railway and Steamship ticket agents. l

I propose to provide a comparatively simple, compact machine which can be positioned on a counter or stand, and which machine will deliver an insurance policy upon the insertion of a coin of proper value and the manipulation of certain mechanism by the person who deposits the vcoin in the machine.

yAmong the several ob]ects of my- ,invena tion are: to provide a comparatively simpleV inexpensive machine having a minimum 6 is a detail-sec# .:wall of the number of parts so as to .reduce the liability of the machine getting out of order andl becoming inoperative; to provide a machine which requires but little manipulation on -tlie part of the person who places a coin in the machine in payment for a policy; to provide means for automatically vdischarging .undersized coinswhich may be placed in the machine; to maintain within the machine duplicate copies of allpolicies issued together with the data nal policies by the purchasers, thereby maintaining a complete record of4 all policies delivered by the machine; to provide means for positively gripping the edges of the original and duplicate copies of the policies and feeding the same forward through the machine; and to provide receptacles within the machine into which the coins automaticallypile up in succession, which arrangement provides forthe protection of the company issuing cies against fraudulent purchasing of a policy by means of a spurious coin or slug.

ToI the above purposes `my invention consists in certain novel tion 'and arrangement of parts hereinafterl incre fully described and claimed.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings, 10 designates the housing of 13. This plate or dooris provided at its upper outercorners with trunnions 14 which are journaled in the side walls'of the housing, and formed onor fixed to said trunnions are quadrant plates 15 and 16. Formed in fthe top of thel quadrant plate 15 rvis a notch 17 which, when the plate 13 is in its full closed position, receives a lug 18 which projects inward from the lright hand.4 side housing. f This arrangement forms a stop to limit theI closing movement of the door 13.

Attached in any suitable manner to the segment 16 is one end of a retraotile coil spring g 16, the same extending forwardly through the machine, and attached at its forward end to a transversely disposed rod rammen .rime i, iaia.

the polifeatures of -construca series of` coin and formed in 5the centerv closed before reverse the original and of the slot 2 1.

are seated in the side Walls of the housing. The curved edge of the segment 16 is provided with lteeth 16 and adapted to engage therewith is a point of a spring held pawl 16, the same being arranged so as to engage the teeth 16c and prevent backward movement of the segment 16 after the saine has been partially moved in either direction as a result of the opening or closing movements of the door 13, thus said door must be fully opened or opening or closing movement can take place;

Positioned beneath the inclined portion of the top plate of the housing is a-plate 19 which supports the webs of paper forlnin carbon copies of the insurance policies as they pass through(l the machine, and said plate provides a surface on which the purchaser of a policy may write his name and other data on the upper web of paper while the door 13 isopened. The upper end of this plate 19 is supported by a rod 20, which is positioned immediately beneath a` transversely disposed opening or slot 21 formed in the plate l1 at the upper end of the inclined portion thereof and the lower portion of said plate 19 is supported by a transverse rail 22, the ends of whlch are seated in the side Walls of the housing. This plate 19 is slightly narrower than the housing 10 so that there is free open space between the side edges of said plate, and the side walls of said housing.

Positioned immediately to the rear of the rod 20 is a transversely disposed rod 23 and fixed thereto is a plate 24, the upper portion of which projects through the rear portion The web of paper compristhe ends of a plate 26 which occupies the forward portion of the slot 21 and the forward edge of this plate 26 is curved downward slightly and is adapted to engage directly upon the plate 24. 26 is actuated so that its upper edge bears down upon the plate 24, the web of paper which is fed from the machine is clamped between the two plates 24 and 26 and the latter forms a straight edge whereby that portion of the paper which is fed from the machine may be torn off from the web remaining in the machine. Formed 'on or xed to the collar 25 which is adjacent to the left hand wall of the machine is a depending arm 27. 4

Positioned in suitable bearings in the forward portion of the housing 10 is a spool comprising a shaft 29 provided near its ends with disks 30. his spool carries a roll of paper 31 on the. face of which is printed the gi Ward portion of the contract or agreement and data relative to the insurance policies issued by the machine and the web of this roll of paper passes upward over the plate 19 and when delivered by the mach' said web passes between the plates 24 and 26. A second spool comprising a shaft 3 2 and disks 33 is which forms the carbon copies o surance policies issued by th which copies are retained in the machine.

he web of this paper 34 passes upward over suitably located rollers 35 in the formachine, thence over the plate'l9 beneath the web 31 -and from journaled in a suitable bearmg on the right hand wall of the housing. The left hand end of the shaft 36 is loosely seated in the hub 37 of a ratchet Wheel 38, said hub and ratchet wheel being loosely mounted on a stud 39 which projects inwardly from the left hand side wall o the housing. Loosely mounted on the inner end of the hub 37 is a disk 40, the same carrying a pin 41 which is normally positioned in an aperture formed in the corresponding disk 37. The disk 40 is held upon the hub 37 by means of a Washer 42 which is fixed on the end of said b and interposed between the disk 40 and the ratchet wheel 38 is a comparatively stiff compression spring 43. Loosely mounted on the stud 39 between the wall of the housing and the ratchet wheel 38 is a ratchet wheel 44 and engaging the teeth thereof is a point of a spring pressed pawl 45 which is carried by the ratchet wheel 38. Fixed to the adjacent side wall of the housing is a spring pawl 46, the point of which engages the teeth of the ratchet wheel 38. A toothed rack bar 47 engages the pinion 44, said rack bar being held in operative position by a roller 47a which is journaled on the adjacent wall of the housing.

The mechanism just described provides means for winding'the carbon copies of the policies onto the spool comprising the shaft 36 and 37, and the spring 43 between the disk 40 and ratchet wheel 38 provides a yielding connection which compensates for the differential movement of the spool due to the gradual increasing diameter of the roll of paper wound thereonto.

oosely mounted upon a rod 48 in the forward upper end of the housing is a spool 49 which carries a roll of carbon paper 50, the web of which paper passes between the webs 3l and 3 as the latter passes over the plate 19. This carbon paper is for the purpose e machine and s f p granite j of transferring onto-the web 34 the data written-byl the urchaserofa policy-onto the web 31. The isk 49 of' the spoo1-`49`is providedfwith ratchet lteeth and engagingtherewithisf-the -point'- of a spring pressed pawl 51, .the samebeingfpi-v otallymounted? on the' end? of: alever 52, which. extends rearward? along theY right hand wall of the housing andbeing" fulcrumed upon` a' stud 152, which projectsfiom said wall.: j

Formed in thetop plateI of'tliehousing immediately to the rea-r ofl the right-'hand end of the slot 22 isaslot 53 'through which the coins areA introduced, andl positione within the housing immediately below this slot is the forward end of the coin pocket. rlhis pocket comprises a pair-of vertically disposed plates-54^whichextend rearwardly from the slot 53'and the rearends of sald plates extend downwardlyy and -ar'e bent laterally so as to lie parallel* with the rear wall of the housing, thereby forxningai coin chute 55. t

Formed in the inner one of the walls? 54 to the rear of the coin slot 53'isanotch or slot 57 and projecting therethrough into the space within th'ejcoin pocket is aA lug 58 which is carried/by the forward endiof a lever 59, the same extending forwardly through the housing adjacent to the right hand wall thereof, said lever being fulcrumed on a stud 60 and provided at its rear end with a'-hook 61 which normally engages the lower end of the segment 15 to hold the latter in closed position.- Normally the lug 58 occupies the lower end of the notch 57. Formed through' the lower portion of the inner one of the plates 54 is a horizontally disposed slot 62 and projecting through this slot into the space within the coin pocket is a pin 63 which iscarried by a link 64, which latter occupies a position outside the inner one of the plates 54.y The rear end of the link 64 is pivotally connected to the lower end of a lever 65, which latter is fulcrumed on a pin 66, which is seated in` suitable lugs on the plates 54, and the upper-portion of said lever projects' through an' opening 67 formed through the top plate of the housing immediately to the rear of thecoin slot 53. The pin 63 is normally held in the forward end of the slot 62 by means of a hook 68 which engages overv said pin and the forward end of said hook` being connected to one end of a retractile coil spring 69, the opposite end of which is fixed to the 4right hand side wall of the'housing.

Positioned between the lower portions of the plates 55 is a pin 70 whichl serves asa rest for the coins inserted in the-coin'. pocketin payment for policies and this pin 1s positioned so as to engage the edge-of -a coin of proper size when the latter is inserted; inthe pocketand bears attlieright'hand end to-permitundersized coins to dro -webs of' paper as designated by 82a.

against the pin 63,' but tl-iel space lietweensaid pin 70andpin63; when the' latterA is `in normal position, is-4 suchv as u between said pinscthereby dropping; outf o the -coin pocketi housing, thus all undersized.-4 coins or slugs are delivered' back to the person who attempted' to' fraudulently operate) the ma-v chine with said -undersizedcoins or slugs.

The means operating-upon the side edges of the plate 19 forgripping'the edges of the 31' and34 and moving the sameupward over said plate will '-now be deintoalchute 71 which leads tofthe '70 scribed;l .Each gripping' member comprises a= plate 73,' which' isi arran ed to neath the' sideedge ofthep ate 19 and fixed to the outer edgeof'l this plate 7 3 is a correspondingplate- 74 which overlie's the-edge of the plate 19.- Formed on theends of the plate 7 4Jand at the outer ycorners thereof are lugs 75 and hinged` thereto is the outer edge of a'gripping plate 76, the inner free edge of whicli'f.- is normally elevated byI a small compression spring 77 which is interposed between said* plate and the plate 74. Formed on the top ofthe plate 76 near the slide be- I outer edge thereof and preferably at the center is af lug 7 Ei` and arranged to slide through suitable bearings formed in the lugs or ears 7 5 isa rod -7 9 provided on the underside of its central portion with an inclined face which bears on top ofthe lug 78. When the gripping members' are moved to the lower end of the plate 19" the lower ends of the rods 79 strike against upwardly' prog jectng parts of the cross-bar 22, and said rods are moved upward through theirbearings, thereby causing the inclined .faces 80 on the undersides of said rods to bear down upon the lugs'78, consequently moving the gripping plates 76 downward, thereby gripping the edges of the websof paper 31 and 34. The carbon sheet is slightly narrower than the webs 31 and 34 so that the edges of said carbon sheet are not gripped between the plates 76 and 74. When. the gripping members are moved upward to their normal positions .at the upper end of the plate 19, the upper ends of the rod 79 will strike againstthe rear edge of the plate 26, thereby forcing said rods rearwardly or downwardly through their bearings, and as a result, the inclinedbearing faces 80 aremoved away from the lugs 78, thereby permitting the springs 77 to act and move the plates 76 upward, thereby releasing the gripping action upon the edges of the webs of paper.

Fixed to the plate 73 is a depending slotted arm 81 and connected to each arm by a pin which is loosely mounted in the slot is the upper end of a lever 82, the lower end portions-82 of these' on a transverse Shaft of which is bent into a horizontal planey 'llhe ends of the bentlevers are journaled" 83 located inthe lower' '13b ioo `of Whlch is pivoted to the' the housing near the front toA the lever 82 whic is right hand side e upper end of portion of th' 'quadrant 15. The lever 82 on the opposite side of the machine is provided at its u per end with a projectinglug th purpose of actuating an 82.* which is or the invertedV L-shaped lever 84, the vertical arm left hand wall of y otally connected to the upper portion of the lever 84 is the forward end of a rod 85, the

rear .end ofwhich is pivotally connected tc the forward end of a triangular plate 86, the

lsame being pivotally mounted on a stud 87 which projects from the left hand wall of t e housing near the depending arm 27. The lower front corner of this triangular plate 86is provided with a short laterally projecting stud 86a portion of the 'arm 27 Positioned against the front end wall of the housing is a series of tubes 88 which are adapted to receive the coins deposited in the machine, and I have provided means for causing the coins to` drop into the next succeeding tube when one tube has become filled. By this arrangement it is possible to readily trace or identify a policy which was delivered by the machine upon the insertion of a plugged coin or a slufr of equal size to the proper coin required For operating the machine. The coin chute 55 comprises parallel walls i which are continuations of the plates 54, and said walls lie immediately over the upper ends of the tubes 88. Hinged to the outer face of the inner one of the pair of plates forming the coin chute is a series of independently movable spring actuated plates 89, the lower ends of which are bent into horizontal planes so as to provide lips 90 which are adapted t0 proj ect' beneath the plates forming the chute, and thus form a sectional bottom wall therefor. The upper left hand corner of each plate 89 carries an inwardly projecting pin 91 and formed through theadjacent wall of the chute directly behind each pin is an aperture 92. Held for sliding movement upon the wall of the chute immediately to the rear of the plates 89 is a plate 93, the same being drawn toward the right hand by means of a spring 94, one end of which is fixed to said plate and the opposite end to the corresponding wall of the chute.

Formed integral with the lower edge of the plate 93 is a series of depending-lugs 95, the lefthand one of which is comparatively short and the succeeding lugs being raduated or varied in length as shown in ig. 3. Normally these lugs 95 are positioned between the inner ends of the pins 91 normally engages.

" and Athe `corres onding end thereof. Pivagainst which the lower apertures 92, thus forming stops or said pins and holding the plates. 89 so that the llps 90 on the lower ends thereof are positloned lbetween lthe walls of the chute 5 6. As the late 93 is shifted step by step toward the right hand, the succeeding` lugs 9,5 pass from beneath ing pins 91, thereby permit- 89 to swing on their hinges pins will pass through the cor- Arranged for sliding movement on the rear wall of the housing to the right of the plate 93 and in front of the chute 56 is a -vertically disposed plate 96, the upper end of which is provided with a series of stepped notches 97 in which is adapted to engage the pointed forward end of the plate 9 Formed on the right hand edge of the lower portion of this plate 96 is a series of teeth 98 which correspond with the stepped notches 97. A stud 99 is fixed in the rear end wall of the housing, which stud passes through a slot formed in the lower ortion of the plate 96, and journaled on said stud is a ratchet wheel 100, the same carrying a cam disk 101 having a single off-set or shoulder 102.

Arranged for slidin movement between the disk 101 and the plate 96 is a plate 103 which is slotted to accommodate the stud 99 and attached to the lower end of this plate is one end of a retractile coil spring 104, the opposite end of which is fixed to the housing 10. Carried by this plate 103 is a pin 105 which rides on the periphery of the cam disk 101. The plate 103 is provided at its upper end with a lateral extension and pivotally mounted thereon is a spring pressed pawl 106, the point of which engages with the teeth 98 on the plate 96. Pivotally connected to the lever 59 is a link 107 and pivotally connected to the lower end thereof-is the forward end of a lever 108 fulcrumed on a stud 109, which latter is fixed on the right hand side wall of the housing, and the rear end of this lever 108 carries a spring pressed pawl 110, the oint of which engages with the teeth o the ratchet wheel 100.

The operation of my improved vending machine is as follows: A person desiring to purchase a policy drops a coin of the proper denomination through the slot 53, and said coin lodges between the pins 63 and 70. If an undersized coin or slug is inserted in the coin pocket it will pass between the pins 63 and and discharge through the chute 71 into the pocket 72. After dropping the proper coin into the coin pocket the purchaser pulls the lever 65 forwardly, thereby actuating the link 64 and causing the pin or lug 63 to bear against the edge of the inthe web of paper 31.

of the'pins 91 engaging serted coin, and forcing'the same rearwardly through the'coin pocket; In so doing the.`

coin rides over the pin and is lifted slightly, and the coin engaging 4the lug 58 raises the same through the notch 57 there-4 by swinging thevlever 59 upon. its fulcrum. The' hook 61 at the forward end of said lever releases the quadrant plate 15 and the power stored in spring 16a now acts to swing both quadrant plates 15 and 16 on their trunnions and consequently swinging the door 13 upward intethe position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, thus exposing a portion of During the movement of the quadrant plate 16 the teeth 16c ride over the point vof the pawl 16d and said pawl will prevent any reverse movement of said quadrant plate until all the teeth on the edge thereof have passed the point of the awl. As this opening movement 'of the door 13 takes place the quadrant plate 15 pulls the arm 84 upward, thereby actuating the levers 82, and as a result, the aper gri ping devices, includin an 7 6 are moved from t eir normal positions at the upper end of the' plate 19 to the lower end thereof. At the termination of this downward movement of the gripping devices, the lower ends of the pins 79, strike against parts of the cross bar 22, thereby moving said pins `partially through theirJ bearings, and causing ytheinclinedfaces 80 to bear down upon' the lugs 78, consequently moving the" gripping 'plates 76 'downward to grip the edges of the webs of pa er 31 and 34 which lie between the plates 4 and' 76. As the lever 59 is actuated the rear end of the lever 52 will be depressed, thereby elevating the forward end of said'- lever 52 and the pawl 51 carried by said last mentioned lever will move a short distance upward with respect to the' disk having the ratchet"- teeth 49al and when the lever 52 rides to its normal position, the pawl 51 will rotate the spoolV 49 a distance of vone tooth, thereby feeding the carbon paper distance. Upon the movementof the lever 59 the link 107 connected thereto imparts movement to lever 108 and the lpawl 110L carried thereby moves the ratchet wheel 100 the distance of one tooth and ,conseouently partiallyy rotating `t e cam disk 101. The coin after passing over the pin 70 and beneath the lug 58discharges from the coin pocket into and lthrough the chute 56 and in passing downwardly therethrough: said coin rides upon the rearwardly bent lips 90 of the plates 89, into one of the coin tubes 88.

When the machine is first placed in service all of thev plates 89 are held in position with their lips beneath the chute by reason against the lugs 95, and consequently the coins willtraverse the entire length of the chute and will drop intol the plates 3, 4 Y toward the right hand moves forwardly a slight and said coin finally drops ing-'that the coin tubes'are-of `such length as to hold eighty (80) coins, l then it is es'- sential that the/ratchet 'wheel 100 be vpro-l vided with eighty teeth.` When this 'ratchet ,Wihe'el has made one 'complete revolution which represents the insertion cfg'.v eighty coins in the machine, the pin 105 Jrwill be elevated' by the high portion of the cam d1sk'101, thereby correspondingly elevating the plate 103 and raising the pawl 106 so 'that 'the' point :thereof engages the next-to thelowermost one ofthe teeth-on the plate 96. As the pin 105 drops ofi the shoulder 102, the plate'103 will be pulled down under 'the inuence of lspring the pawl 106 mov'e toward the right hand the distance of one" notch. This movement of the plate 93 the right hand one of the lugs 95, which is the shortest lug,

'from its position beneath the pin 91 carried by the right hand one of the plates 89, and

the spring behind this plate moves the" same upon its hinges, thereby permitting'the pin to enter the corresponding aperture 92 and project into the space within the coin chute i. the leftlhand one' of the coin". tubes. 'Assumi 55 and -thelip 90 of thisparticula'r plate will be withdrawn from its position beneath `said coin chute -and directly over the sec- `ond one of the' coin tubes. membered Ithat this It will be reoperation takes place immediatelyj after the insertion of the eightieth coin, and as a result, the eightyfirst' coin' inserted into the machine will pass' downwardly through the coin chute until it is stoppedagainst the pin 91 of the right hand one of the plates 89, and said coin is free to drop from said chute into the bottom of the second. coin tube. When this second coin tube is filled or has received eighty coins the operations just described are repeated and the secondv one of the plates 89 will be actuated so that its pinl will project into the coin chute and itsv lip will be removed frorn beneath said chute so that the succeeding coins will drop into the third one of the coin tubes. By such arrangement it is possible toprovide a machine which will vend' four or five hundred policies, and by numbering the policies consecutively, it is possible to readily trace the number of any policy which was purchased or obtained from the machine by the insertion of a spurious coin or slug for the coin tubes 88 can be readily removed from the machine and the coins therein examined in order. Normally, the upper edge of the plate 26 is bearing upon the plate 24, thereby tightly closing the slot through which the policies issue by the action of the stud 86 bearing against the lower portion of arm 27. -fWhen the arms 82 are actuated as hereinbefore de'- scribed and swing forwardly through the machine the projection 82bk strikes against the horizontally disposed portion of the lever 84, thereby moving the same slightly, and consequently imparting movement to the rod 85, which latter swings the triangular plate 86 upon its pivot point and moves the stud 86a outwardly and away from the lower portion of the arm 27, thus permitting the plate 26 to move away from the plate 24 a suiiicient distance to allow the policy to pass between the plates 24 and 26 when issuing from the machine.

After the door 13 is open the purchaser writes his name and certain required data upon the face of the policy appearing through the opening 12 and this data is transferred by the carbon sheet to the web of paper 34-forming the copies of the policies which are retained in the machine. After this operation the operator manually engages the plate 13 and moves the same downward to closed position and upon such operation the quadrant plates 15 and 16 are restored to their'normal positions and the lever 84 is moved to actuate the arms 82 causing the same to swing rearwardly through the machine, and as a result, the paper gripping and feeding members comprising the plates 73, 74 and 76 are moved upward to the upper end of plate 19 and during this time the edges of the original and carbon copies of the policy are gripped between the plates 76 and 74. he original policy is moved between the plates 24 and 26 to the exterior of the machine when the carbon copy of the policy travels over the shaft or rod 20 and from thence downward on to the spool comprising the shaft 36 and disks 37. When the paper gripping and feeding devices reach the upper end of the plate 19 the upper ends of the pins 79 strike against the rear edge of the plate 26, thereby forcing said pins through their bearings and consequently moving the inclined faces '80 on the undersides of said pins away from the lugs 78, thereby permitting the springs 7 to act and swing the plates 76 upward al short distance, thereby releasing the edges of the webs of paper and the gripping members are now free to move downward. to the lower end of the plate 19 on the succeeding operations of,y the machine.I During the closing movement of the door 13 the teeth 16c of the quadrant 16 move past the point of the pawl 16d thereby preventing said door from being partially closed and then opened.

During the return movement of the arm 82 to which the rack bar 47 is connected, said rack bar will engage the pinion 44 and impart rotary movement thereto and the point of the pawl 45 engaging with the teeth of -inal policy from the machine.

- simple operations on the fand provides combined 38 .to rotate with said pinion. The spring 43l providessa friction connection between thefratchetwheel 38 and disk 40 and the disk 40 being connected to the corresponding disk 37 of the spool on which thecarbon copies of the policies are wound bringsabout a winding movement of this .spool,and as a result, the web 34 is wound upon `said spool simultaneously with the delivery of the orig- Durin the forward movement of the rack bar 4 the pinion/44 will be rotated without imparting movement to the ratchet wheel 38.

A machine of my improved construction is comparatively simple, requires but two part of a purchaser, means for vending accident insurance policies and the like.

It will be readily understood that minor changes in the size, form and construction of the various parts of my improved vending machine can `be made and substituted for those herein shown and described, without departing from the spirit of my invention, the scope of which is set forth in the appended claims.

claim:

1. In a machine of the class described, a casing having an opening, a plate below said opening, a closure for the opening, there being a second opening formed in said casing through which is adapted to issue a web of paper from the interior of the casing, a plate normally closing the last mentioned opening, means coperating with and actuated by a closing movement of the closure for moving the paper across the rst mentioned plate, and means coperating with the paper feeding means and under control of the closure for moving the plate which normally closes the second mentioned opening to permit the discharge of a portion of the paper supply from the casing.

2. In a machine of the class described, a casing having an opening, a plate below said opening, a closure for the opening, there being a second opening in the casing through which a web of paper from the interior of the casing is adapted to discharge, means' "opening, a closure for the opening, there being a second openingA in the casing through which a web of paper from the interior of the casing is adapted to discharge, gripping devices adapted to engage the edges of the paper and feed the same positively across the plate, means for moving the gripping members into position to engage the paper, and which gripping members are actuated by a closing movement of the closure to feed the paper across the plate and discharge the same through a second opening in the casing.

4f. ln a machine of the class described, a casing provided with an opening, a closure for said opening, a plate within the casing below the opening therein, which plate serves as a support for webs of paper contained within the housing, paper gripping devices, comprising pairs of oppositely arranged plates mounted for sliding movement on the sides of the plate and adapted to grip and feed a portion of the paper through the opening in the casing, means coperating with the closure and actuated by the opening movement thereof for moving said gripping devices to the lower end of the plate, and which last mentioned means moves the gripping devices to the upper end of the plate upon a closing movement of said closure, means for causing said devices to grip the paper when moved to the lower end of the plate, and means for causing said gripping devices to release the paper when moved to the upper end of the plate.

5. ln a machine of the class described, a casing having an opening, a plate below said opening, a closure for said opening, said plate serving as a support for webs of paper during their movement within the casing, a transfer sheet adapted'to feed between the two webs of paper during their movement over the plate, gripping members adapted to 'engage the edges of the webs of paper and feed the same positively across the plate, one of which webs 'of paper discharges through a second opening in the casing, and means whereby a closing movement of the closure of the first mentioned opening effects a feeding movement of the paper gripping members to feed the paper across the plate.

In testimony whereof l hereunto affix my si ature in the presence of two witnesses, this 10th day of July, l913.

HERMANN BUERNER. Witnesses:

M. P. SMITH, M. A. HANDEL. 

